Stopping the Revolving Door:
How to Hire and Retain Top Talent

By Paul Endress

Every
year, valuable employees leave companies for reasons no one really
understands—not even the departing employees. In fact, when asked
why they quit, many employees simply state: “I didn’t like
the job.” This leaves many business owners, managers, and HR
professionals scratching their heads, as they believe it’s
impossible for anyone to pinpoint what constitutes “like.” In
reality, what makes people like their job is something you can
control, although it’s also something most companies don’t focus on.

Those
who lead a company or department, or those who are responsible for
hiring employees, tend to focus on the tangible aspects of
employment, such as wages, benefits, job duties, etc. As such, when
they bring new people into the organization, they do so on the
premise that if Bob was successful selling widgets at ABC Company,
then he’ll be successful selling widgets here. But just because
someone was successful in a past company doesn’t mean he or she will
be successful in your company. And just because someone has the
technical skills to do the job you have available doesn’t mean
she’ll like working at your company. That’s why you need to go
beyond skills and technical expertise if you want an organization
filled with productive people who actually like their job and stay
with you.

So if
you sometimes feel that your company has a revolving door of talent,
consider the following suggestions for hiring and retaining the
staff you need.

Enhance your hiring process: Gone are the days
when hiring an employee meant reading a few resumes, conducting a
couple of interviews, and then hiring the person with the best
professional and/or academic background. Today’s companies and
employees are more complex than ever. And since most interviewers
and most managers don’t have a background in psychology to really
discover what’s going on inside a job candidate’s head, pre-hiring
behavioral and/or personality assessments are vital to any hiring
decision.

A simple
assessment tool—many of which people can complete in less than 15
minutes—can reveal a wealth of information that can help you better
determine the person’s strengths, weaknesses, communication style,
work style preferences, etc. While you can’t use the assessment
tool’s results as your only hiring criterion, you can incorporate
the results with your formal interview answers to get a clear
understanding of the job candidate’s preferences and tendencies.

Get a good fit: By now, most people have heard
that you want employees who “fit” in your organization. But what
exactly does a “good fit” mean? It means that the person will be
able to work within your organizational culture, not that he or she
is technically competent to do the job. For example, is this person
someone who enjoys being around others, or does he prefer to work
alone? Does this person like to do things “by the book,” or does she
thrive in a flexible work environment?

Knowing
more than just someone’s skill set is important, because chances are
that someone who was successful in a structured environment will not
be successful in a flexible environment. And while few employees
will ever pinpoint the disconnect in work style preferences as the
root of their job dissatisfaction, any employee in that situation
will complain about “not liking the job,” even though it’s the same
job they did elsewhere and excelled at. A good assessment tool will
reveal much information about a person’s potential fit within your
company.

Help your managers manage: Often when a
manager has an employee who isn’t working out well, the manager will
tell the employee, “You need to do X differently.” But rather than
expect employees change, companies need to help their managers
manage better. After all, managers are supposed to manage—that’s
their job. Unfortunately, most managers are so focused on meeting
quarterly financial goals that they don’t take the time to
understand the personality of each employee and interact with that
employee accordingly. An assessment tool can actually help managers
manage better by giving the manager suggestions of how to manage
that particular employee, based on the employee’s behavioral
tendencies.

For
example, one of your managers, Bill, may tend to give long,
drawn-out instructions to people. But one of his employees, Mary,
may do better with directions that are short and to-the-point.
Imagine how much more effective Bill could manage Mary if he knew
that. By simply giving Mary bullet point information rather than
page long instructions, Mary can go from being frustrated with her
boss and not liking her job to understanding what her boss wants and
being cheerful about work.

So often
we hear that managers have a “style.” But no manager can be
successful if they treat and interact with every employee the same
way. Managers need tools that will help them work with an employee
in the way he or she will work best.

A
Happy and Profitable Future: In many companies, high turnover
is a lot like a sore toe. Yes, the toe hurts, but you eventually get
used to the pain and it doesn’t bother you as much. Don’t get used
to high turnover and say, “That’s just how it is here.” High
turnover is a solvable problem once you acknowledge it.

By
having a reliable assessment tool that helps you get a good fit and
manage better, you’ll build a solid company of loyal and happy
employees who are eager to get to work every morning. And remember,
happy employees equal happy customers, and that leads to more
profits for you and your company.